Hangover Helper: The Creole Slammer at Slim Goodies in New Orleans

There's hardly a fancy restaurant in New Orleans that doesn't offer a signature take on poached eggs and Hollandaise sauce, maybe with some crab cakes or fried green tomatoes thrown in for good measure. Brunch is a necessity in a city known for late night revelry and booze masked in ungodly amounts of sugar (Hurricanes, I'm looking at you).

Some mornings, though, you just don't have the wherewithal to face a white tablecloth and a $15 omelet. Some mornings you just need a greasy spoon diner where you can gaze distractedly at the Polaroids on the walls and the waitress's tattoos while waving awkwardly at people you may or may not have also run into last night.

Slim Goodies was made for mornings like these. The people-watching is plentiful, the menu is quirky, and the food is top notch. You wouldn't go wrong with the sweet potato pancakes or the combo breakfasts, but for a truly bedraggled morning, you can't beat the Creole Slammer ($10.50).

Crunchy-on-the-outside, creamy-on-the-inside hash browns lurk under a generous ladle of crawfish etouffee, which adds enough spice to give it a kick but not so much that you're begging for water. Eggs come any way you like, but if you get them over-easy, the runny yolks will mingle with the crawfish and soak into the potatoes and beg to be mopped up by the biscuit. Every forkful brings a little something creamy, salty, and crunchy. Add in the down-to-earth setting and a cup of hot coffee, and you're awfully close to hangover heaven.